Nirvana

Far is forever.... when you are staring out to sea. The school of bluefish that I was staring at on this gorgeous summer day was so far away it may as well have been forever. I had one lazy rod with a lazy fisherman on a lazy day and as expected, lazy bites too! It apparently did not effect the expression on my face because when my neighbor Kevin got close to me. He commented on my lazy smile.

Did you get anything mike?...Nope not yet Kev..but I wish I could cast to those bluefish out there. He spotted them also and asked a couple of questions about bluefish that I'm not sure I answered correctly, but he didn't care. I must admit Mike that even when nothing is biting you seem so relaxed and well placed when you are fishing. Kevin?...it is the zone that I am most serene in. It is NIRVANA, for me.

Kev can relate to that. He is another New York City resident that opted for the Incredible gentleness and raw beauty of Humarock. He knows what I meant by Nirvana ...His dog walks and swims are as equally meditative as my fishing. Proximity to the ocean is wonderful.

It was a lovely neighbor chat and I appreciated the conversation and general aura that Kevin emits. A "see you later' exited Kevin from my side and he walked away with his big ol lab. But as he faded in to the distance.......the bluefish schools came closer!

They were still at a distance that would require a knee mortar to reach ....but they seemed to be helping far....not quite be as forever.

I proudly display a 10 ft custom rod and a cherry ambassador 7000c3. The problem is that most of the time it is simply that....a display. I have always preferred a spinning reel and ever since I got my van staal reel, thoughts of using my 7000 are few and far between. This was a few and far between time. I had a gut feeling to go home and get it, because I cant even imagine reaching those fish with my spinning gear....but if they .....just come in a little more.....and if I have that 7000 ready to go with a Gibbs swimmer and if and if and if. I talked my self into it......!

I took my time setting it up and fiddled with it a bit before returning to Nirvana.......and maybe it was adrenal enthusiasm, but those fish did not seem as far as forever. With the West wind being obvious and the fact that I can cast that thing to England made me believe, I had a shot at them.

I'm not sure about you guys and gals, but I crave the fight from the surf to be as far as possible. The more I have to battle the fish ...the better. I always hope they smoke the line off the drag or even better is when they strike a plug at the end of a cast that could not go a foot further.

Normally I would have stared at this bluefish pack....with the ambassador it was worth some gargantuan casts. Every thing was maximum. I waded out to the maximum....and pendulum cast that Gibbs so hard that it appeared to resemble a tee shot by a professional golfer. The plug landed as far from the beach as it could without aid of a boat......and at that point....when far was nearly forever....the bluefish crushed the plug.

The fight was Nirvana....it was long and varied and thrilling as I watched my gear reduce the distance between he and I. I wondered how long it would take him to return to the school when I released him. I repositioned for another muscle cast and let it fly......like a bird. Nearly out of sight it made contact with the water and again ....was eaten. It seemed that every crank of the reel was a joyful as I have experienced...maybe it was the fact that I was getting them from such a distance away. But I was in seventh heaven. I got 4 bluefish doing it with casts that would have made Ron Arra proud. While fussing with the fourth one Kevin returned from his walk and came by to check out the scene. He stood there totally silent while I reorganized myself after releasing this chopper. I had the same grin as before.....and he knew.....what I was experiencing... even though he does not fish. So he looked me in the eye and orated one word.........NIRVANA....it said it all.

Some of the reasons why I find this to be perhaps the best all around artificial from shore is because you can fish it day or night, with a teaser or without, preferably slow but can be retrieved any speed you wish.